


Changeling

by orphan_account



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Infanticide, Murder, Obsession, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-28 11:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6327805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off of the Creepypasta story 'Baby Dolls'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tadashi and Hiro sat in their living room, Hiro thumbing through websites on his laptop. Tadashi was discussing possible alternatives rather than what Hiro has planned.

“What about adoption?”

“We can’t reveal that we’re actually siblings, though.”

”…Surrogate? We don’t have to go through all the channels that we’d have to go through with adoption…“

Hiro’s brow furrowed as he thumbed down the page of useless links.

Why couldn’t Tadashi like Hiro’s original idea?

"Oh, look, here’s what I’ve been looking for!” Hiro turned the laptop to reveal a picture of a sleeping baby girl, the caption reading ’ _LIFELIKE BABY DOLL for Sale, only $250! I bought her for my daughter, but realized that she was far too young for this technologically-advanced doll. Contact via messaging for more info and if you’re interested!_ ’

“Hiro. I thought we agreed on getting a _real_ kid. Can you really tell me you’d be satisfied with a doll?”

Tadashi never understood Hiro’s obsession with the thing. It's beyond creepy and, on a good day, he probably wouldn’t want to get near it much less touch it.

“ _I_ never agreed. _You_ just assumed I agreed.”

Hiro only found this doll a couple of days ago, but she was just so perfect… he wanted her so badly. They had the money, too.

Tadashi deflated at the words. Despite his attempt to seem upbeat and positive throughout Hiro’s… decision making process, for lack of better words, he was starting to wear thin.

"I–How about we get both?”

Tadashi was one to compromise. He didn’t want to delay this part of the process any longer (He wanted a kid, _badly_ ).

And he was _sure_ that Hiro would give up the doll once he saw their kid, their real kid.

Hiro sighed.

“I guess… I mean, I thought you only wanted _one_.“

Tadashi bit his lip to keep from saying that there _was_ only one baby and instead nodded.

"What do you say?” Tadashi grinned, scooting over to press himself against Hiro’s side.

“Yeah.. I guess so.” He then waited until Tadashi got up to get a drink and typed a message to the seller of the baby.

’ _Hey, I have the money. I want her, if no one’s offered yet._ ’

* * *

With a smile on his face, Tadashi returned to the couch with a bottle of water in hand and went over to his bookmarks labeled under the folder “SFIT” with subfolders of “Sur” and “Ado”.

He’d been looking into it for a while without Hiro’s knowledge, the last week or so. It felt _wrong_ to hide this type of information from Hiro but he felt like if he hadn’t… that there may have been some disagreement between the two of them.

Now all they had to do was decide if they wanted to have the kid with someone they knew or to just pay the money to have a stranger have their kid.

Considering the fact that they’d disconnected themselves from their family _and_ friends in order to be together, the first wasn’t an option.

Money wasn’t an issue, though, so… they could shell out the money to get a decent surrogate mother (it was expensive, that was sure, but it would be worth it).

San Fran was one of those cities which didn’t require the ‘parents’ to go through adoption proceedings, so that was good. All they really needed was a 'declaration of parentage’ from the mother, in other words a signature on a surrogate contract.

“Ok, so, since we don’t exactly have any friends who’d be willing to be our surrogate we’re going to have to pay which could get pretty high up there.” He clicked on one of the links in the bookmarks labeled “possible sur” and was immediately directed to a list of women on a local surrogacy site (the method was apparently pretty popular in their region) .

“How’d you feel about a blonde haired baby in the Hamada line?” Tadashi asked, jokingly, glancing up to see Hiro’s reaction to all of this.

Hiro looked over the page that his brother had open, revealing a smiling blonde woman’s photo and the words 'Looking for Homosexual Parents to Give a Baby or Babies To’ under it.

“Umm… no. No blondes. It’d look weird.”

“So serious,” Tadashi chuckled at his partner’s reaction. “But no, blonde would be weird…. wait, how about her?”

He stopped scrolling as he saw a black haired, Asian woman of… yes, Japanese descent mixed with… Korean according to the woman’s profile. 

“'I have had two healthy, uncomplicated pregnancies and births, Youngest is eight, oldest is twelve. I am a stay at home mother, aged thirty five. I have no problem with same sex couples. My price is around 40-45 thousand but there is room for change. Email for more information.’”

It sounded _perfect_. The price wasn’t as bad as he had been led to believe (80-100 thousand), and they could afford this.

After the decision, Hiro went back to talking to the seller of the doll.

 **Hiro:** Hey, I have the money. I want her, if no one’s offered yet.  
**Jenna:** I’ve had a few offers. How much are you willing to pay?  
**Hiro:** According to your website the base price is $250. And the last bidder’s price was $419.  
**Hiro:** How much would I have to pay for her to be mine officially?  
**Jenna:** The bidding ends at midnight. If you’re top bidder by then, she’s yours!  
**Hiro:** …I’m willing to pay as much as I have to.  
**Jenna:** …  
**Jenna:** Rules are still the same. Be the top bidder, and she’s yours.”

Hiro sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

 **Hiro:** Okay..  
**Jenna:** Good luck! Remember: top bidder by midnight, you’ve won her.  
**Hiro:** Okay, thanks.

Now where in the world was Hiro going to get the extra money? He couldn’t just make up a price.

Refreshing the page, he was dismayed at the bidding number going up to $515, put in by user 'JamesC27’. He immediately typed ’$857.24’ and hit the 'Place bid’ button.

“Hiro?” Tadashi looked up at him when his brother didn’t respond. 

“I asked what did you think?” He gave a hesitant smile that faltered at the intent look in Hiro’s eyes, facing towards the screen of his own computer. 

…

Of course he’d be looking at that _stupid_ baby doll.

Hiro snapped out of his trance and looked up.

“What do I think about what?”

Tadashi’s smile completely disappeared and he shook his head.

“Never mind..” He didn’t mean for it to come out so hostile-sounding, but he was pretty pissed off. Hiro blinked in confusion before looking back at the bid only to see someone had topped him like the jackass they were. He growled before placing another bid at ’$956.24’.

“She will be _mine_ …” He crossed his arms as he glared down viciously at the laptop in his lap.

* * *

It was nearing midnight, and fortunately, no one else had placed a bid higher than Hiro’s 956. He was pretty pleased by it.

Tadashi had argued with him for a couple of hours about it before finally surrendering and heading to bed without another word.

Despite Tadashi’s absolute disagreement with the whole thing, Hiro still found himself in a good mood. He’d gotten his _baby_.

He’d gotten _his_ baby.

When going to bed he paid no attention to the queues that screamed that Tadashi really didn’t want to know Hiro existed right now and instead crawled in and hugged the blanketed figure from behind.

Today was a good day.


	2. Chapter 2

It was Friday, the day that Jenna had told Hiro his new baby would be arriving on. The anticipated teenager waited by the door for a knock or the bell to ring.

Finally, at exactly 12:25 in the afternoon, he pulled open the door after hearing the plop of a box and a truck driving off.

Tadashi had tried to be supportive; key word: **_tried_**. He just didn’t understand Hiro’s enthusiasm with something so fake. The baby could do things that a baby was functioned to do, yes, but none of it was _real_. All of it was mechanical and unfeeling and it made Tadashi’s skin crawl. It failed crossing the Uncanny Valley, in his eyes.  
  
For Hiro, it seemed to be different.

“Hiro! We’ve got to meet Mrs. Takamoto in half an hour!! I want to be early so we can set a good example!” Tadashi called over to Hiro as he straightens his tie.

As he made his way over to the living room, he was stopped at the sight of the box being practically ripped open on the floor.

“Hiro…” His voice was low in warning. “We have a _meeting_.”

Hiro carefully unwrapped the blanket that his baby was wrapped up in and just gazed in amazement for a couple of seconds at how absolutely _precious_ she looked. She opened her eyes slowly, crying out and squeezing them shut tightly at the sunlight streaming in through the window.

“Hiro.” Tadashi repeated, going over to the other and putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t like the look in his significant other’s eyes.. the one that said that he was already starting to obsess over something (to an even greater extent than he had before, at least).

Hiro didn’t seem to hear him, staring in pure awe at the darling baby girl that he held so tightly. She was even more perfect in person than just in the photos, and he laughed softly as she yawned and stretched her little arms and legs.

Tadashi gulped as the feeling that he’d done something very _wrong_ began to set in his stomach. Watching the way Hiro was interacting with this fake baby was the way he had wanted, the way he had _hoped_ Hiro would be with their real one.

The possible mother of which they had a meeting with in twenty-five minutes could only be patient for so long…

“Hiro!” Tadashi shook his shoulder a bit harder as he glanced up at the clock, insanely worried now.  “Look, I’m going to be heading over to the cafe. You know where it is. I want you there in _ten minutes_ , ok??”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there..” Hiro said nonchalantly, not taking his eyes off of the baby that he already loved so deeply. The doll gazed from Hiro to Tadashi, cooing and smiling and reaching for him. “Aww, ‘Dashi, look.. she wants you to hold her..”

Tadashi’s face twisted in disgust as the doll reached for him, its hideous face not even faintly resembling a baby in his eyes.

“I really have to go. You _better_ be there, Hiro, I mean it!” He said as he grabbed the necessary papers from the table and left (for the first meeting, it was mainly to see if they would be compatible. This _would_ be the woman that could be carrying his child for nine months, so it was important that they at least _liked_ each other).

Hiro rolled his eyes and grabbed the rest of the stuff from the practically destroyed box. Diapers, bottles, a couple–okay, a LOT–of baby clothes, pacifiers… man, Jenna had hooked him up with all this stuff. He wouldn’t have to go shopping for at least 6 months or so, it seemed.

* * *

Tadashi was absolutely jittery with nerves. What if something went wrong? What if this wasn’t the one? He didn’t think that Hiro would care to look at another surrogate especially with the doll in his hands.

He kept adjusting his tie and was walking just a bit too fast.

Upon coming across the cafe, the first thing he did was scour the area to see if she had arrived yet. He let out a sigh of relief at the realization that she indeed hadn’t. He went over to one of the seats and sat down to wait, pulling out his phone to check the time.

_Ten minutes._

He bit his lip and barely stopped his leg from hopping in place. He was so nervous, and it didn’t help that Hiro wasn’t here with him. _  
_

_Where was he???_

He didn’t have time to call his lover when the woman walked in with her two sons. She must have noticed his confusion as to why her boys were with her.

“Their father is away on a business trip.” She explained, smiling gently.

Tadashi nodded and smiled in understanding as he got up to greet her properly.

“Hello, I’m Tadashi Hamada! I’m sorry about my partner, it seems that he got caught up in his work and couldn’t make it this first meeting.” The cringe and depression that he felt at the moment was in no way faked.

He felt so embarrassed because he knew what Hiro was probably doing right now.

Either way, he was polite, he smiled, he shook her hand and then motioned for her to take a seat to discuss.

“Again, I am sorry about my partner, Hiro isn’t usually this busy. But other than that… umm… from what I got on your ad you’re a homemaker and you’ve got two kids, who are both incredibly handsome.” He sent a smile towards the kids; one smiled back while the other glared (the elder).

“Is there, uhhh… anything you’d like me to know about you, or anything you’d like to know about me?”

The woman glared at her elder son menacingly, and he rolled his eyes in boredom and took a seat, propping his chin on the palm of his hand while still glaring at the man before him, almost evilly. The younger took a seat and started doodling with a pen and napkin.

Tadashi fidgeted slightly at the elder’s obvious dislike before smiling nervously at the woman, who gave him a reassuring smile in response. 

“I’m sorry about my son. He’s not very happy about all of this. But other than that, I want to know more about who I’m giving away a child to.”

Tadashi nodded and began to talk about how both he and his partner have very stable jobs and have a continuous salary on top of a large savings that would assure that the child would be taken care of.

“Hiro mostly works from home while I have jobs that require me to visit different regions of the city, but for the most part, we both work from home and it works for us!”

The woman nodded along, seeming fascinated with him already. The younger boy nudged his finished drawing towards the stranger in front of them and smiled brightly, not saying anything.

Tadashi gave the boy a big smile and told him that it was amazing, pointing out a few points that he liked about it before going back to talking to the child’s mother once the child was distracted with his drawing again.

“And as I was saying, both of us have wanted children for years now and we’re finally settled enough in which we can provide a safe environment for one. We used to live somewhere where our relationship wasn’t… accepted and we’ve been out of there for nearly a full two years and we think we’re ready!”

The woman’s smile turned bigger.

“Well, that’s awesome.” She said proudly, reaching in her handbag for a piece of paper. Written on it was the fertility clinic’s address along with the time and date for their first appointment.

Tadashi’s smile seemed to grow bigger as he realized that this was actually happening. That this _could_ happen.

“I-thank you… so much for doing this, you have no idea how much it means to us!”

Mrs. Takamoto stood up and smiled warmly, bidding Tadashi farewell before gesturing to her boys that they were leaving now.

The elder boy immediately took off for the car while the younger one handed Tadashi both drawings before rushing to join his brother. Tadashi thanked the boy, giving him a smile as he looked down at the drawing before looking up and (just in time) waving a hand goodbye.

He barely kept himself from going and doing the happy dance, but couldn’t keep himself from doing a small fist pump.

* * *

Tadashi returned home, and his mood went sour as he entered the house and heard wailing from upstairs. Damn, that fucking doll was already annoying the shit out of him…

He walked upstairs and found Hiro bouncing the crying baby in his arms, trying to calm her down, to no avail.

“Hiro.” His voice was strained with anger as he barely controlled his urge to grab the baby doll right out of Hiro’s arms and throw it against the wall.

“Why weren’t you at the meeting?” He asked, despite pretty much already knowing the answer.

Hiro simply shrugged before grabbing one of the pacifiers from the dresser that he already had set up and putting it near the baby’s mouth. She calmed down a bit, starting to suck on the binky.

“I didn’t want to go. She just arrived, so I wanted to stay here with her.”

“Hiro. This is about our future _kid_ , and you wanted to play with a doll?!” He was getting fed up with the doll and it had only been here for a few hours.

Tadashi groaned, pulling at his hair. He could only take so much right now.

Hiro glared at his partner almost evilly. It reminded Tadashi an awful lot of their surrogate’s elder son. “I was taking care of my baby, not playing with a doll.”

Oh, great… he’s already believing she’s real…

“It’s not a baby, it’s not real, it’s a disastrous piece of metal, vinyl, and silicon with wires sticking to and fro what’s supposed to be its nervous system!” He threw up his arms in frustration and shook his head.

“I can _not_ deal with you right now. We’ll talk about that _thing_ tomorrow.” He angrily loosened his tie as he exited the room and headed to their bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Thursday couldn’t have arrived more quickly. Tadashi had decided to go casual this time. It was a fertility clinic, after all.

He was just finished with putting his shoes on when Hiro walked into the room with the doll, who was giggling nonstop at the faces that he was making for her.

Tadashi did his best to ignore the irritating thing as he just tuned it out.

“Could you please just… leave it here or something? It’s not like it could starve…” He grumbled the last part as he wriggled his foot until it was comfortably in the shoe.

Hiro looked affronted at the very idea of it, an indigent look appearing on his face in contrast to his previous teasing.

“Are you crazy, Tadashi?! No way, I _have_ to take Maemi.” He looked down at the baby and cooed, “I won’t leave you here all by yourself, no I won’t..”

Tadashi gritted his teeth. God, he was already starting to be annoying… 

He was starting to think that maybe it would be better if Hiro… just didn’t come. This had 50% failure rate with Hiro’s attendance.

“Fine. But please, for the sake of our future child, say that it’s practice for this child we’re planning to have. I do _not_ want Mrs. Takamoto thinking we’re not suitable for a child of our own!”

Hiro’s face spoke his disgust for such an idea.

“If you don’t, you are _not_ coming with me. I can’t do this with you so intent on a doll rather than our kid.”

Hiro looked from Maemi to Tadashi and then groaned.

“ _Fine_.” He snapped. “I’ll go through with it.”

After he got himself and the baby ready (he had insisted on taking at least 20 minutes deciding which headband went with her green onesie–purple or orange), they were out the door.

* * *

Tadashi had to keep repeating to himself that once Hiro saw their baby everything would be alright, that this level of obsession could disappear with time.

Upon entering the clinic (which was in a rather isolated part of the city, now that he thought of it) he smiled at seeing Mrs. Takamoto.

She smiled in reply and waved him over and it was only then that he noticed that she didn’t have her kids with her this time.

“Had a friend take care of them for the afternoon. You’d be surprised how much you have to do to get people to take care of an eight and a twelve year old.” She then notices the significantly shorter Hiro (perhaps that was an exaggeration, but he was probably not what she had expected).

“Oh hello! I’m Asami Takamoto, nice to meet you and…” She looked down at the bundle in his arms and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Tadashi quickly jumped in to ‘explain’ the doll.

“Hiro wanted some practice with taking care of a kid before we got our own, so the best alternative was a very realistic baby doll.” The elder smiled to hide his unease at the whole situation.

Asami smiled brightly and pinched little Maemi’s cheek. “Well, you’re an absolute little darling, aren’t you?”

Hiro grinned proudly and smirked at Tadashi.

“The doctor will be here in a while to talk over some things.” Asami explained, and suddenly, the baby started to cry. Hiro threw an apologetic glance over at Mrs. Takamoto, who smiled in understanding.

The boy got out a bottle–which was already filled with formula–and stepped outside to feed his ‘daughter’. Tadashi’s brows furrowed as he looked at Asami, confused.

“You find that cute?? I can’t even look at it–her.” It hurt something deep in his soul to call the doll by a gender pronoun.

Said woman bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“It’s a cute model, that one, some people just don’t like the unnatural when they get too real. I suppose you’d be one of them?”

He shrugged his shoulders before nodding in assent.

“It’s ok. But just try and be patient with her, won’t you? Your husband seems to be quite taken with her.” Tadashi bit his lip to keep from saying that Hiro wasn’t his husband and never would or could be because they were related too closely.

“Uhh, yeah.. now, about the process…”

* * *

Hiro sat in a chair with Mae cuddled close to him, looking down at her admirably as she ate. He then noticed a teenage boy staring at him.

“Umm..” He cleared his throat. “Can.. Can I help you?”

“Dude, I almost didn’t believe it, but it is you.” The laugh that followed ruffled Hiro’s feathers and had him curling slightly to protect his child if necessary.

“And who exactly are _you_?” He asked, defensive as the teenager didn’t look friendly, at all (if that smirk was anything to be said about…).

“Little baby Hamada, all grown up.” Hiro’s eyes widened in shock, taking only a few seconds to recognize the nickname as one many had called him in high school.

His eyes narrowed, teeth grit, as he ground out a 'what do you want?’

Dylan Maddox, the main bully of the high school who loved to pick on Hiro whenever possible, glared at Maemi, Hiro taking notice of this and feeling immediately threatened.

“You know, I’ve seen one of those _things_ before, and they’re so creepy… it’s no surprise that you bought one.”

Hiro bristled further, a sudden urge to strangle this stupid kid (who was still in high school, if that was worth mentioning at all) rising quickly. 

“Says the one still in high school. Jealous that I’m further in life than you are?” Hiro replies with a smirk.

Dylan’s eyebrows furrowed as he got up and stalked over to his former high school target.

“You do know that only _girls_ can play with little baby dolls, right?”

Hiro’s eye twitched at the 'doll’ reference. It was one thing when Tadashi said but another when it was a complete stranger.

How _dare_ he…

“She’s my _daughter_ , so you can just _screw off_ , you asshole! Your kind has no place in the real world.”

His facial muscles clenched and everything in him went 'danger danger!!’ when the bully started to move closer.

“You fucking dare touch my baby and I’ll bite off the hand that comes closest.” He growled, curled protectively over his little girl (whose face seemed to be scrunched in distress at the ruckus and now that wouldn’t do).

Dylan’s eye twitched and he snarled in anger before snatching up the bottle that the baby was just about finished with and dangling it out of reach.

“Does the widdle dolly want this?” He mocked menacingly.

Hiro did the first thing that came to mind in this situation:

He made sure his baby was safe and secure in his arms, he stood up, and then he fucking kneed the bastard right in the balls.

It was an immediate reaction. The bottle was immediately dropped and he was on his knees in utter and absolute pain.

But of course Dylan didn’t back down, no. He got up and made a disoriented grab at Hiro, aiming for his neck.

_“What did I fucking say?”_

The hand that reached for him was literally chomped on, Hiro digging in his teeth as hard as he could, piercing skin and perhaps even muscle. He was aiming to cause as much pain as he possibly could.

“I’m suing, you little bastard!” Dylan cried out angrily as he clutched his mangled hand and rushed out the door as soon as Hiro let go.

“Try it, you bitch!! See how your ego feels after you tell a whole group of people that you let someone who’s nothing but flesh and bones and 5'3 get the better of you!” He screamed after him, almost considering going after him.

Maemi was shaking in fear and distress, crying out as she buried her face in Papa’s warm jacket. Hiro, just now realizing that she was still in his arms, calmed her down, and Mae was soon all smiles and giggles.

“HIRO!” He turned around just in time to see someone come at him like a bullet.

He barely stopped himself from performing a full body flail before realizing that it was _Tadashi_ and relaxing immediately.

“I heard yelling, are you alright?!” And of course he was in overprotective mode.

Tadashi had pulled back to examine him for any injuries.

“I’m fine, Tadashi.” He says, glancing down to see that the child was alright (and she seemed more than alright, giggling happily at what she assumed was the presence of her other daddy).

“What is–is that blood?!” A hand was at the edge of his lips where he felt wet.

“It’s not mine, don’t worry! Just had to take care of some jackass.” Hiro smiled before grimacing at the taste of blood in his mouth.

“Well, come back inside the room, Dr. Hashito wants to see the both of us in there.” Tadashi grabbed Hiro by the arm and dragged him back to the exam room.


	4. Chapter 4

Tadashi let out a sigh as they finally crossed the doorway and he could finally relax.

The whole procedure was stiff and downright uncomfortable. Asami had tried to make the process easier despite this being her first time actually being a surrogate but there were some things that you just couldn't smooth over.

He finally glanced down to see how Hiro was feeling when, of course, he sees him leaving the room, doll in hand. Tadashi could faintly hear cooing and what he distinguished as baby talk coming from the other room.

Of course he'd be immediately immersed in that creepy doll when they got home. Oh, how he wished he could get rid of it!

Meanwhile, Hiro had put little Maemi in the swing that he'd found in the basement of the house earlier that week and plopped down on the couch to take a nap.

Tadashi's brow furrowed before shaking his head.

"I'm going to take a shower; you can have one while I'm done. Do not fall asleep like that."

Sometimes he felt more like Hiro's father than his boyfriend and/or brother. He shouldn't have to worry this much about Hiro. 

Hiro waved his hand dismissively and settled down even further, not even bothering to roll his eyes at the comment.

As soon as Tadashi was out of earshot, Hiro snuggled in further and was about to fall asleep when Mae started whining.

He was up, quick as a shot, and moving towards her side.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, sweetheart!" He cooed, picking her up and rocking her carefully in his arms as her whimpering progressed into full blown crying.

"Those dolls need constant stimulation or else they start to cry!" Tadashi calls from the bathroom, having heard when the doll began to scream.

Hiro glared in Tadashi's direction. He was _sure_ Tadashi would come to accept Mae as their daughter eventually, though, so he didn't take much offense to it.

"Or maybe she just needs changing..." He muttered.

* * *

 

After Tadashi was out of the shower, he walked into the living room and found Hiro watching over his sleeping "daughter". Rolling his eyes in disgust at how attached his lover was, he cleared his throat.

"Hiro." He said sharply. "Shower. Now."

Hiro spared only a small glance up to glare at his boyfriend before looking down, a once again loving look on his face.

"You'll take care of her while I'm in there." 

It was a statement, not a question. 

If maybe Tadashi spent a little time with her... then he'd grow to love her just or almost as much as he did. He was sure of it!!

Tadashi rolled his eyes and nodded simply. Anything to get Hiro to shut the hell up about that damned thing!

His initial thought was to just ignore the damn thing and go put on some damn clothes (seeing as he was standing in the living room with nothing but a towel around his waist). 

In fact, Tadashi almost _did_ do that before the infant doll began to whimper. His immediate reaction was to cringe. 

Just _why him_?

Tadashi glared down at the doll, who actually had what looked like _glassy eyes_ signaling oncoming tears. His face twisted even further as he began to think about dismantling the doll. All he'd have to do was sever _one_ wire and it would be nonfunctional. 

And then maybe he could rip into it a bit so that even Hiro couldn't fix it.

Tadashi was relieved when Hiro got out of the shower quickly, although he thought it to be a bit too quickly.

"Hiro! The creature is crying for you!" He said, refusing to call Maemi a baby, or even a doll, for that matter.

He's honestly never seen Hiro rush into the living room as fast as he did.

"I'm going to bed." Despite the fact that everything had went _well_ today, Tadashi still found himself in a horrible mood.

"Okay, I'll stay down here if you want me to." Hiro was already going to stay downstairs, but he figured he'd tell Tadashi.

"Do whatever you want, I don't care.."

Hiro gave Tadashi a sort of sad look and took Mae into his arms, bouncing her as he watched Tadashi disappear into the bedroom.


	5. Chapter 5

Tadashi hadn't been allowed into the room. Why hadn't he been allowed into the room?!

He was currently pacing in the waiting room, more nervous than he's ever been.

He'd get to see his baby boy, or girl (they had wanted the gender to be a surprise), soon. They were going to be here, alive, in his _arms_.

Hiro was anticipating the baby's arrival, but he only wanted to see what gender it would be. He had hoped Mae was going to get a new sister. He wanted to have another daughter, and he even told Tadashi on the way to the hospital.

They'd been in the waiting room for what must have been... eight hours, maybe? Tadashi wasn't keeping time down to the minute at this point.

He broke out of his nervous pacing when he saw a doctor heading towards them. 

"Are they alright? Are Asami and the baby alright?!" The old doctor gave Tadashi an understanding smile. 

"Yes, they are both completely fine. Congratulations, Mr Hamada, you have a baby boy." 

And finally it felt like the clouds had cleared. He let out an amazed laugh, smile nearly taking up his entire face. 

"I'm a father? I'm a father!"

He didn't even look back at Hiro when he asked when he could see his new child.

Hiro gave the man a questioning look, as he hadn't heard the baby's gender. The doctor just smiled and gestured towards the room.

"They're in there." And with that, he left the room, glancing at little Maemi in Hiro's arms only for a second.

Tadashi, remembering basic propriety for all but a second, knocked on the door to the hospital room he'd been directed to. He entered only when he heard the tired 'come in' from what was obviously the mother.

"Hi Asami! How are you feeling?" Tadashi asked, his eyes wandering the room to find the bassinet next to the bed.

Said woman rolled her eyes, clearly knowing who he wanted to see first.

Tadashi walked over slowly. It felt... like a dream, if he was to be honest. It was like it was only yesterday that he and Hiro had been discussing having children.

Hiro, however, only looked into the bassinet for a second before curling back in honest disgust. Tadashi glared at Hiro for a couple minutes.

"What's wrong, Hiro?" An exhausted Asami looked over.

"Nothing--" The word is stressed with a pointed glare at Hiro "--is wrong. How could there be when, God, he's so beautiful." And Tadashi was already kneeling next to the carrier holding the baby. 

His face was so tiny and scrunched up. He was absolutely the cutest thing Tadashi had ever seen. 

A hand tentatively pet the infant's head and Tadashi cooed, feeling his heart swell with affection. 

Asami smiled before telling them that she'd leave him in their hands. She had just given birth and must have been very tired.

"Tadashi, can we go home? I need to put Maemi down for a nap." Hiro questioned. Tadashi immediately shook his head.

"Not now."

"But, Tadash--"

"Not. Now." Tadashi hissed through bared teeth, looking down at their son. "Don't you want to see our son? He's _ours_ , Hiro. We get to take him home! You won't need that doll anymore!"

The male smiled as he saw the baby wiggle slightly at the offending noises in the room.

Hiro only scoffed in annoyance as he immediately exited the room, Mae cuddled close to him.

"Tell me when we're about to leave." Was all he had said.

Tadashi deflated slightly at Hiro's lack of enthusiasm towards their new baby boy but almost immediately pushed it down. Hiro would love their son, with time. Who couldn't love that little face?

Hiro was annoyed and even more angry. Their next child was a _son_ , not a _daughter_ like he'd hoped he would be. Which meant there would be no little sister for Mae, no getting to coddle another daughter like he desperately wanted to... and on top of that it meant that the distance between him and Tadashi would only get bigger and bigger.

Something had to be done.


	6. Chapter 6

Tadashi was actually in a very good mood when they stepped into the house, eager to show his new son, Tomeo, where he was going to live from now on. He was absolutely taken with the newborn that he almost asked Hiro to drive the car home so that he could sit in the back with the baby.

"...and this is your new home, Tomeo!"

He'd insisted on the name. It was after all, their father's name and like their father had named _them_ after their fathers he would do the same.

"Hiro! We're going to get take out today, ok?" He said, shutting the door as he watched his partner walk ahead and into another room.

Tadashi was getting... slightly worried. Hiro hadn't said a word since they'd come home. It was disconcerting.

Hiro, meanwhile, was literally trying not to cry as he stepped into the kitchen. That's how badly he wanted another baby girl. Looking down at Mae, he almost felt the need to actually apologize for not giving her the sister that he felt she so desperately deserved.

"Hiro? Come on, you haven't held Tomeo yet." Tadashi said, looking over as he bent down to put the sleeping newborn in the swing.

"That's Maemi's!" Hiro suddenly snapped.

Tadashi let of a woosh of air, trying to calm himself before talking. It worked only moderately.

"It's a doll, Hiro. The swing was for our first _real kid_. I got this for _him_ , not for that _thing_!" He sneers at the very assumption that he wasn't going to use the swing for Tomeo.

All the while, Hiro stood there, feeling like he was boiling inside from all the anger.

"I don't care. Besides, Maemi _was_ our first kid! Why can't you see that?! And why do you keep calling her a doll?! She's our daughter!"

Tadashi was seriously considering telling Hiro that if he didn't shape up and get rid of that thing, then he would have to find another place to live, but he couldn't do that to their son. Tomeo needed both of his dads...

"She's. A. Doll. I've told you this so many times, I think that if I had dollar for each time I said it, I'd have racked up at least a thousand!! She's not real! If you drop her, she won't cry! If you pinch her, she won't cry  _because she has no pain receptors_!!" Tadashi was tired of trying to convince Hiro that the doll wasn't real.

"How could you think that it's real?? Has your obsession blinded you so much that you can't differentiate fantasy and reality?? What about our son?! I'll throw back the same argument you threw at me. He's our _son_!"

Their voices were escalating to the point that Tadashi wouldn't be surprised if someone called in a domestic disturbance.

Hiro's eye twitched, and he was considering just storming up to Tadashi and slapping the shit out of him. That is, until Maemi started whining, probably sensing her papa's anger, and that made Hiro calm down only just so that he turned his attention towards her.

Tadashi's eyes narrowed at the doll.

"You'd choose her over your son?"

It was a relationship bending question. Tadashi hadn't even wanted to think that all of... _this_ was even a possibility, that Hiro _wouldn't_ , in fact, change his mind after the baby was born.

Hiro froze, and at that moment, he couldn't believe what he'd heard. He _refused_ to believe what he heard.

"I'm done discussing this." He said simply, as he walked out of the kitchen and trudged upstairs.

As soon as Hiro was out of the room Tadashi deflated, as if just realizing what he'd done.

God, he'd... made his lover choose between what he'd thought was an obvious choice... to Hiro, it seemed too obvious, though...

Tadashi rubbed his temples before covering his eyes with both hands, leaning against the counter.

He thought... perhaps... it was best that they both leave.

Tomeo wouldn't do well in a situation this screwed up.


	7. Chapter 7

Hiro and Tadashi slept on opposite sides of the bed, as far away from each other as the bed would allow. They were still not speaking to each other after the heated argument they'd had a couple of days ago.

Tadashi was already making plans to leave. This just... wasn't working out. What had he been _thinking_?!

That wasn't... that doll-obsessed kid wasn't the person he fell in love with.

He'd been making... plans, for the last few days. He'd called his friends (who were happy to hear from him, considering he'd all but fell off the map, taking Hiro in tow with him) and explained to them that he would need a place to stay if he was to move back into their area of San Fransokyo.

"I just need to get away... Hiro and I--" And that was another thing to explain all together.

He'd had to use the excuse that he had wanted to move and had convinced Hiro to come with him, seeing as they hadn't been apart since the day Hiro was born (at least that was how Tadashi saw it).

They, of course, knew nothing about 'Mae' but they knew he was carrying a child in tow, Tomeo, knew that Hiro didn't like the kid and it was the reason they had fought.

It would be only a few weeks until Tadashi found someplace else to live, or maybe go back to Aunt Cass and beg for her forgiveness.

He didn't know if they would be able to work this out... in the back of his mind, he desperately hoped that Hiro, by this point, would come to his senses, but... he just wasn't phased. He had no other choice... he didn't want to stay anymore, and he'd still love Hiro... just not in that way anymore.. Hiro had practically all but obliterated that love..

Hiro, on the other hand, felt guilty as all hell for that fight... he knew his obsession with the doll was unhealthy, and he had actually considered setting up a therapy session to help himself..

"Fred, you have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you so much!" Tadashi held the phone to his ear as he folded his clothes and placed them in the suitcase the following morning.

"Just--ugh, look, I can't go back to Aunt Cass. She'll just say 'I told you so' and slam the door in my face." He took the phone into his hand.

"Yeah... I know. Again, thanks." Tadashi hung up and placed the phone on the dresser in order to continue packing.

Hiro arrived in time to see him close the suitcase.

"Where are you going?" He questioned. Tadashi shot him a menacing glare as he grabbed up the suitcase.

"Why does it matter to you?" His tone was sharp and mean.

"T-Tadashi, come on, we can talk about this!" Hiro reached for Tadashi only for the other to step away, a steely look in his eyes.

"I've put up with this for too long. Your obsession with that doll... your attitude towards our son... that's the final straw! I can't trust you to protect him and right now, I have to do what's best for him. And it's not to stay here."

"I will _always_ love you Hiro... but I can't love the you you've become." And with that he briskly walked past him, grabbing the carrier holding Tomeo, before going out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Hiro stared at the wall from across his bedroom, his mind reeling. He couldn't believe that Tadashi had left him... he just couldn't believe it.

Maemi was only a short distance away on her playmat, suckling on a paci as she eagerly studied the toys that she had in her little hands.

All of this... over a doll?

Wait. His eyebrows came together in confusion, starting to feel an oncoming headache.

No... Tadashi hadn't liked Maemi... hadn't liked his daughter... their daughter.

Tears began to form, making Hiro's eyes glassy, a small sob escaping him as he watched his little girl play with the toys and then look at him, as if sensing his distress.

She waved and Hiro gave her a smile.

She was his _daughter_ , not a doll like Tadashi had said. Tadashi was... he was... _lying_.

Hiro silently padded over to Mae, kneeling before gathering her in his arms. He carefully rocked her, holding her as if she had only been born hours before.

"It's ok, sweetheart... Papa will make everything ok... Papa will... Papa will get Daddy back..." He sobbed again, clutching the doll-- _child_ \--tighter to his chest.

Everything had been ok. Everything had been _ok_ until...

Suddenly everything froze, and then a flash of understanding rolled over him.

_Of course... It was the baby boy..._

It wasn't until the kid was born that everything had turned so horribly wrong, that Tadashi had even _considered_ leaving him. It wasn't until he was born that everything had been ruined for Hiro...

Looks like he was going to take matters into his own hands... he needed to get rid of that wretched thing that had driven a wedge between him and Tadashi...

"It's ok, sweetheart... Papa will fix this..." As he said this, he stood, his daughter in his arms, and headed over to the kitchen.

What would be the best way to get rid of it? The old-fashioned knife to the heart routine? No... that would be too messy. 

Suffocation... that would be enough. Hiro was strong enough. He'd have to be.

Now how would he go about doing this? Could he walk to Fred's?

No, no, no, the house was way too far...

He sighed as he made his way to the local terminal station, quickly walking the steps down leading to the underground station.

" _Boarding Platform 44 to Central San Fransokyo begins in five minutes._ "

The female voice over the speaker made him panic silently as he made his way over to the electronic booths to buy his ticket, hoping that it wasn't full already. It was quickly done, with only a minor hassle from a man in a suit who he'd beaten to the only open machine, and within a few minutes he was boarding.

It took only an hour to reach Central San Fransokyo, and by the time Hiro got off, most of the lights in the neighborhood were off... except for one.

Hugging Maemi--who he had brought in a bjorn--tightly to his chest, he trudged up the steps to Fred's house as quietly as possible.

Tadashi had just finished putting Tomeo to sleep just as Hiro had begun to pick the lock. He smiled down at him sadly, planting a kiss on the infant's forehead before heading out. 

"The little dude asleep?" Was asked in a hushed whisper

Tadashi nodded. 

"Really Fred, thank you _so much_ for letting us stay here." 

"Dude it's no problem. You're welcome to stay as long as you want!" 

Tadashi let out a small laugh at that. 

"Until I can get back on my feet is more like it. We'd just bought a house too and it's just--" he couldn't even bring himself to say how disappointed he was. 

"Just go to sleep. We'll start figuring things out in the morning, man." 

Tadashi looked back at the room which held Tomeo. 

"Could I...?"

"Sure man. There's a reason I put him in a room with a bed beside it."

Fred's smile was understanding. In fact, he'd been understanding of the whole situation, which Tadashi had welcomed immensely.

"Good night!" He whispered as he walked back into the room and prepared to go to bed.

Hiro was so lucky that the house didn't have a security system, because he would have been majorly screwed otherwise. Sneaking into the house, he almost forgot how big it was...

Tadashi gave a small sigh as he settled in for the night, back to the crib. The child inside it simply cooed every once in a while, refusing to sleep which continued to make Tadashi anxious.

He turned on his other side.

"Sweetheart,  _please_ , Daddy needs sleep..."

Hiro heard the cooing--it was pretty quiet in the house--and immediately headed upstairs. As soon as the cooing was heard again, he headed to the closed bedroom door. From the sound of it, Tadashi was in there with _it_. Hiro's eyes narrowed. This would be a lot harder if Tadashi was with it.

He'd have to wait until the elder was asleep before he could do anything.

Peering through the cracked bedroom door, he saw a glimpse of Tadashi rolling back over and, after a few minutes, snoring, indicating that he was asleep.

"Perfect..." He whispered, slowly pushing the door open just enough so that he could get through.

Walking over to the crib, he grimaced as he looked in and saw it sleeping... how ugly it was...

He couldn't believe that Tadashi had chosen this ugly thing over their beautiful daughter. It was absolutely despicable!! 

He reached his hand into the crib and took away it's blanket before beginning the process quickly and methodically. Hiro wanted this part to be over and _quickly_. He needed to get out of the house before either Tadashi or Fred woke up.

He watched with menacing eyes as the creature's breaths became quicker, grinning at its obvious struggles to breathe, before it just lay limp, no movements whatsoever. 

He held the blanket over the thing's head for a few minutes more than necessary, just in case, before letting up. Hiro let out a breath of relief.

It was _dead_ and that meant things could go back to normal.

Something felt wrong. Something felt _very_ wrong. 

It was the first thing that came to Tadashi's mind when he began coming to. 

Hiro barely noticed his form move until Tadashi had turned around, eyes blurrily looking at him. 

Tadashi didn't recognize Hiro, all he saw was some _stranger standing over his baby's crib_. 

"TOMEO!!" The scream was loud, possibly loud enough to draw attention to the room.

The stranger suddenly lashed out and pressed Tadashi up against a wall, arm to his throat. Tadashi immediately grabbed on to the stranger's arm and did a maneuver that had them both rolling on the ground. 

Eventually, due to sheer strength, Tadashi was able to get the other pinned and finally see his face. Panting, his eyes widened in disbelief. 

"H-Hiro?! W-what--" He looked back over to the crib and then back to Hiro before shaking his head. 

"No..." He was off of him in a flash and over to check on his baby, his _dead_ baby. 

"No!" He sobbed as he saw that his baby boy wasn't breathing.

Hiro smiled up at his lover.

"It's ok, Tadashi! It's gone, it doesn't control you anymore." Tadashi looked up from his poor, dead child to look at Hiro with grief and confusion in his eyes.

"What the _hell_ are you talking about? How could you do something like this?!" Tadashi's voice was slowly escalating and with it, Hiro's smile began to falter.

"It's because of him you left me, you left us. And with it gone, you can come back now! You can come home...." Hiro went to reach for Tadashi's hand only to have it yanked away, a look of disgust and horror on Tadashi's face.

"What--what's wrong? We can go _home_." He said it again, thinking that Tadashi hadn't heard it the first time.

"You killed my child... you're a monster." The smile completely vanished from Hiro's face, a mixture of confusion of disbelief warring on his features.

"The only place you'll be going is jail." The words were final as Tadashi quickly made his way over to the door, intent on revealing what Hiro had done.

Hiro dashed out after Tadashi, but stopped at the top of the stairs. Before Tadashi could make his way over to Fred's bedroom, he pulled out a pistol--Tadashi had made him carry it around for self-defense, and now was as perfect a time as any to use it--and shot his lover in the back of the head.


	9. Chapter 9

Hiro's hand shook as he quickly dropped the gun and backed away. His mind was blank, not quite registering what he had done.

But something he did know was that he had to _get out of there_.

Having gathered his thoughts, he immediately scooped up Mae and dashed out of the house before Fred could spot him, having heard the bedroom door open and footsteps coming down the hall.

_Had he really done that?? Had he just killed Tadashi?!_

He felt absolutely numb; the only thing he was aware of was his tight grip on Mae and how hard he was breathing. He somehow managed to find an abandoned house for the meantime until he could catch a transit bus back to Osaka, where his and Tadashi's house was.

By the time they got home, Mae was asleep, so he put her in the swing and turned it on, sitting on the couch across from her and watching her chest rise up and down, soon becoming calm as he watched her. His eyes felt heavy, the excitement of the day starting to take its toll on him. Though he felt like he could drop off at any moment, he forced himself to stay awake, to watch Mae, to assure himself that she was going _nowhere_. 

She was  _his_ and since Tadashi...

Tears welled up in his eyes at the name of his dead lover ( _who he killed_ ). 

_It was the right thing to do. He was **leaving** us_

He forced the tears back as he continued to repeat the statement over and over in his head, solidifying his decision in his mind. 

_It was the only thing to do._

As he began to fall asleep, Mae startled him awake by crying out. Hiro jolted awake and looked over as he saw her, big brown eyes open and looking at him. He giave a tired smile and got up from the couch, kneeling down next to her.

"Hey, princess... what is it? You were sleeping so well.."

He reached over into the swing and stroked her cheek, gently humming as she continued to cry.

"You're so perfect... my perfect little girl... Daddy couldn't see it." He frowned before choking on a sob.

"I'm sorry you're not going to grow up with a-another s-sister or your Daddy, I'm so sorry sweetheart." His shoulders shivered as the tears began to fall, emotions finally getting to him.

"Don't you dare worry, sweetheart. I'll be the two Daddies that you deserve."


	10. Alternate Ending

Hiro sits in the rocking chair, cradling Mae tightly and watching her with careful eyes as she drinks her bottle. God, he loves her so much...

It's been six months since the.. incident... which means seven months since they've.. well, he's had her... and, well.. he's read all the books on babies.. she's supposed to have said her first word by now...

His lips thin at the thought that something has gone wrong, that he's  _done_ something that's impeded her development. 

But he's been so _careful_ , and she should be...

Well, she should be _bigger_ than she is now. 

Hiro had been terrified of going to a doctor, afraid that they'd discover who he was, what he'd done... and he was also afraid that they would give him a diagnosis that he just wouldn't be able to take.

He sighs and lays her down in her play pen, where she grabs a stuffed puppy and puts its muzzle into her mouth, seemingly trying to eat it. Chuckling at how cute she is, he reaches down and strokes her cheek lovingly.

He can't believe that Tadashi hadn't cared about her from Day One... she's just... lovable... how can anyone not love that perfect, adorable little face of hers? The things he'd said were... just plain ridiculous. Saying that she wasn't _real_ when she clearly was! She crawled, she babbled, she breathed... she did everything a baby was supposed to do. 

But her growth rate is... troubling Hiro. He's starting to think that he _will_  have to take her to the doctor's despite his fears.

Mae, obviously sensing her papa's distress, coos and reaches her tiny arms up at him in a 'pick me up' gesture. Hiro does as she wants, picking her up and holding her close to him protectively...

No one is going to take her away from him... even if he has to kill again...

"Hush little baby, don't say a word, Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."

He rocks her slowly, gently caressing the back of her head as he continues to sing.

It will be ok... everything will be ok.

His singing is rudely interrupted by a knock at the door. Mae tenses up and whimpers softly in fear, eyes glassing over with tears as she clings to her papa's shirt. Hiro shushes her softly and tries to ignore the knocking.

The knocking does not stop, no, instead it gets louder. A few seconds later, a voice calls out:

"SFPD! Sir, please open this door." The voice is rough in a way that spells trouble for Hiro.

His heart begins to beat much faster. They can't have... have they found him out?

"Hiro Hamada, open the door or we will have to break it down!"

Oh no! They identified him! But... But how?

"You have to the count of three! One..." 

Hiro shakes, his arms clenched tightly around Mae as he remains frozen in terror. 

"...two..." 

He has to run! He has to--

"...THREE!" And he hears the sound of the door coming down.

"Search the house for him, boys!" He hears, and he finally gets up enough strength to hurry into the closet and hide. He is breathing heavy as he pushes aside the hanging shirts and pushes himself to the very back.

He does his best to try and keep his daughter silent, but she starts wailing. His eyes widen in fear and he's frozen like a deer in headlights as the closet door swings open with a violent force strong enough to leave a huge crack in the wall. He's quickly pulled out and thrown to the floor, his grip on Mae failing as she falls to floor beside him. Hiro's arm is pinned painfully to his back as he's read his rights. 

"Mae!" He cries out and the cop looks to his child. 

"It's one of those dolls they make for prospective parents." One of the officers explains to the other and Hiro just-- _snaps_. 

"She IS NOT A FUCKING DOLL!!" His eyes wide, he struggles uselessly under the weight pinning him down.

"SHUT UP, KID!" The officer screams, and Hiro screams at him to let him go, that he did nothing wrong, that he did it out of self-defense...

"Fuck, he's out of his _mind_." One of them mutters while another warns the officer to keep his voice down. That that isn't how they treat people no matter what their crimes are. 

Innocent before charged guilty, right? 

But too bad some people don't have any tolerance for baby killers.

Hiro watches with wide eyes as the cop takes the screaming baby and tears the batteries out of the compartment on her back... and she becomes so... still...

At that moment, all of the rage that Hiro had felt towards the cops is overcome by pure horror...

_Ba...tteries? But that would mean--_

He can't stop himself from shaking, nor can he stop his vision from swarming.

"No... my baby... Mae..." Hiro's voice is down to a whisper as all the fight in him just goes straight down the drain.

Tadashi... was right... _had_ been right.

Hiro's too numb to do anything as the cops, with as little effort as possible, haul him out the door and into their squad car. He closes his eyes as the tears begin to fall, his shoulders shaking. 

He'd... been such an idiot.

_I'm so sorry, Tadashi._


End file.
